Passport Form submissions made easy? Ya right!

Ok, so my husband had gone to apply his passport... We tried the online registration first, since it apparently gives an appointment (Date and time). We tried for Jan and unfortunately the the earliest date we could get was 3rd Feb. So then we thought we will go by the usual long process... The forms were available on the website and we downloaded it. Filled it properly and my hubby went to submit it...

Tada.... it is THEN revealed that ONLY online registered applicants can submit. So, after the unsuccessful attempt we came back and yesterday managed to submit the application after a lil problem.

Since they have stopped allowing people other than the one submitting their forms, I stood outside while my husband went inside the office.

While outside, I saw a lot of ppl in trouble as they had no clue where to go for what and I was giving them guidance better than the guard standing there. So I thought maybe I will list down some points here.

1. You have to do ONLINE REGISTRATION - here. Now unfortunately, only after filling up all the details will you know the earliest date of appointment. But let that not disappoint you. Apparently IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! So, confirm the appointment and take a printout of the form.

2. The printed form will have your name and surname all under the 'surname' field... No, it doesn't matter now as it is happening from 'their' side. So chill!

3. Also, there still will be a lot of fields that will be blank. No their system is not smart enough to print a NA where NOT APPLICABLE. Comeon, its Indian govt we are talking about... Can they ever make things simpler for the general public? NO!!

4. And there will be some more fields which you will have to fill out manually anyways...

5. They don't give a damn about the date. The main thing is the serial that gets printed with the online form. The date is like a dummy.

6. And the time... EVERYONE GETS 10 AM! 10 am to 12.30 pm is the time they entertain people there. And u thought u had a 10 am appointment?? Haha... When my hubby and me got there at 9.15, there were already a 100 people ahead! Think about the guys who turned there at 10! :P

7. If you don't know how to fill the online registration form, then they do it for you at the passport office for Rs.35/-. The counter's name will be ONLINE REGISTRATION. This confused so many people coz they thought that this was the line to submit forms of those who did an online registration... Seriously? Re-read last line of Point 3!

8. YOU'VE TO CROSS SIGN ON UR PHOTO IN THE PP FORM. I'm mentioning this in caps coz a poor lad was asked to go back because of that... I mean how long does a sign take?? Sheesh!

9. Proof of Residence is always a pain... When they say electricity/phone/water bill and bank statement and all, what they actually mean is.... for the period of one year... Get one of say Feb 2009 and one of Feb 2010.....its to make sure u stayed there for an year! They want 2!!

My hubby had just one bill of last November... But somehow the lady accepted it after a warning that if asst.passport officer doesn't think its enough, you will have to come again and submit a 2008's copy... I can't guarantee abt ur form anymore than that... Wow!

10. And where do you go to submit it? speed post center is easy right?
HA HA FOOLED YA!GO to the passport office if you don't wanna waste your time! When my hubby headed to the Speed post centre, they said they don't take it there anymore as they've no idea what happens to the forms they send to the passport office... *gulp*.

The first response however was, "passport forms? here? where did you get that idea from?" And my hubby showed them a board just across the wall which stated "Passport form accepted here!"
Brilliant ain't it??

No wonder people these days wanna get the passports done through agents!!